They went a very long way before they "realized" they were not on a trail! Young and gung-ho, they probably figured they would just take a direct route to make it faster, since they were trying to do the 3 peaks in 24 hours, and then found themselves in a precarious, apparently dangerous spot, in the middle of the night with no help in sight. Glad things turned out okay. I'm surprised that, after SAR was able to reach them, that they did not elect to hike back down with SAR guidance. Must have been some tricky spot they found themselves in!

One thought...who does San Jacinto first, drives 50+ miles past San G, does Baldy, then turns around and drives another 50 miles back to San G? I mean, the three mountains are in an almost straight line along the 10 fwy...